RAPID CITY, South Dakota– Feb. 24, 2021 - As a historic arctic cold event gripped much of the country, Black Hills Energy stood ready to respond to dramatic increases in customer energy demand on our electric and natural gas infrastructure. Reliability, generation, and operations team members continually monitored energy supply and adjusted as needed to support system integrity and meet extraordinary customer demand. Locally, technicians bundled up to physically inspect and monitor key infrastructure to be ready to respond.

“The integrity investments made in South Dakota in recent years played a key role in how well our infrastructure performed as our team worked tirelessly to help homes stay warm,” said Black Hills Energy’s  Marc Eyre, Vice President of South Dakota electric operations “As we look to the recovery phase of this weather event, we are focused on how the unprecedented demand for electricity and natural gas will impact customer bills and we remain committed to supporting reasonable energy costs.”

Usage is the single largest portion of energy bills and weather is the biggest factor in increased usage. When temperatures are exceptionally low and usage increases dramatically across the country, the law of supply and demand created a temporary increase in commodity prices. 

“Customers can expect to see an increase in March bills directly related to their increased consumption of electricity in February. This increase would be attributed to the additional usage as a result of extreme temperatures” said Eyre. “We will work closely with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission to determine the best path forward to manage any longer-term pricing impacts to customers.” 

Customers worried about affording their bill are encouraged to log into their account through the Black Hills Energy website and enroll in Budget Billing, which is a free payment plan that averages the amount you pay each month. This budget option supports customers looking to avoid the seasonal increases in bills that result during extreme weather by averaging out usage during the past year. Customers can also seek out other assistance options such as United Way’s 211 to get access to emergency utility assistance services like Black Hills Cares, by visiting Assistance Programs on our website.